Bunker Hill (CG 52) - Naval Cruise Book

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Operation Iraqi Freedom 1

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operation iraqi r reeuuiii ■; r- '

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i oaaea i or w ar In The Northern Persian Gulf, Navy Cruiser Is Loaded For War By George Cahlink ABOARD THE USS BUNKER HILL Authorized Personnel Only, reads the sign posted on the metal hatch leading to the ombat information center on this Navy cruiser operating in the northern Persian Gulf. In this dark, windowless inner sanctum, bout 20 radar screens blink orange with potential threats from the air and sea. The room, just below the ships bridge, contains the svstems that control the vessels defensive missile systems, which rotect ships operating in the region. , And behind a black curtain is a top- ecret area, big enough only for lat serves as the launch control ?thal offensive weaponsthe If the Navys Fifth Fleet lunker Hill a message to launch the n order to ready the missiles for Tree sailors and an officer who ehind the curtain, two of the sailors jtitude for the missiles targets, 1 a process that could take as long The data will then be passed ailor, seated at a terminal to the left lectronically assign the coordinates :eel canisters several decks below. three computers and four people, center for one of the Navys most Tomahawk missile, headquarters in Bahrain sends the Tomahawks, the captain will give launch to his Tomahawk shooters work in the top-secret area. Sitting will punch in the longitude and double-checking each others work as hour. to the launch controller, the third of the planners. He will to Tomahawks standing upright in After checking with the strike officer ho stands behind the three sailors and receiving a final command of battery release from the captain, the controller will tap touch screen on the lower left-hand corner of his monitor that reads. Execute. Its job I was sent out here to do, says Launch Controller Petty Officer Clayton Bartels, a 23-year old from Colorado Springs, Col., who ' d rather talk about when his favorite snack cakes are coming aboard than about how he ' ll feel if ordered to unleash the ship ' s fury on Iraq. But, Bartels concedes, he likes being known to his shipmates as the man )ehind the curtain. If the United States launches an attack on Saddam Hussein, the Bunker Hill, a 567-foot ship positioned along the left flank of an unprecedented armada of about 1 30 U.S. and allied ships in the Persian Gulf, would likely be among the more than 30 ships called upon to kick off the war with a pounding Tomahawk assault. The ship, built in 1 986 and carrying 388 sailors, is part of the aircraft carrier Constellation battle group. We have naval superiority with the force we have assembled here, says LCDR Kurt Goodnight, the ship ' s executive officer. The Bunker f the initial strikes in Operation Desert Storm, has two automated vertical launch systems ould launch as many 122 missiles in rapid succession. The exact number of Tomahawks carried on the cruiser is classified. The cruise missile is the ships best-known weapon, but they re far from only The ship H H HIIJIIH H ' ' Navy ' s nost powerful anti-ship missiles, the V l H Harpoon, which can take out vessels a range of more than 65 miles. H H ' - ' ' ' 8 ' five-inch cannons are bolted 3 the ships front and rear decks that B | - ' uld firepower orces ashore or deal with HHJ H nearby he air. Several machine guns are pH|Hi | H ' mounted across the ship. Goodnight, the ships H| HHkHhp M| B executive officer, says the Bunker Hill ' s greatest advantage is not the KS BS d weaponry, but the communication nd radar systems that control them BBBP T TKif . I nd set their targets. For example, he ship has the Navy ' s advanced B ' i m ' j Aegis Weapon System, a ombination of the radar systems, - ' ' m! - iJl H display screens and communication inks that allow ships throughout the ' ■ ' |ir ' SS! H Constellation battle group to exchange targeting information in j ' f Kkk. B ' ' real-time. 1 III (. ' (I s( niv or juboard that